Piano construction



Sept. 21 1926.

C. MEHLIN PIANO CONSTRUCTION Filed August 3 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept.21 1926.

1,600,291 C. MEHLIN PIANO CONSTRUCTION Filed August 3 1923 2Sheets-Sheet 2 from Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

CHARLES MEI-ILIN, OF FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY.

PIANO CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed August 3, 19 23.

This invention relates to piano construction and has more particularreference to the sounding board and bridge arrangement.

In the ordinary piano construction the plane of the sounding board andthe plane or )lancs in which the strings lie are paralle and the bridgeof the treble and middle strings and the bridge of the bass strings areeach of uniform height from end to end.

A principal object of the present invention is the provision of a pianoin which the bridge and sound board construction and arrangement willprovide a varying height of bridge for the strings, the bridgesincreasing in height as the length of the strings increase and at thesame time maintaining each string substantially in parallelism with thesoundboard. That is to say, each string, particularly the treble andmiddle strings and only slightly less of the bass, is arranged atsubstantially an equal distance from the sound board throughout itslength and the distance of each string from the sounding board is bestcalculated to give maximum purity and evenness of tone quality. This isaccomplished in the instance selected for the purpose of illustrationand hereinafter described in detail by providing bridges of increasingheight from right to left across the piano and arranging the sound boardin a plane divergent from the plane of the strings crosswise of thepiano as will be better understood the following description, which,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses apreferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a top plan view of so much of a grand piano constructed inaccordance with my invention as is necessary to an understandingthereof;

Fig. 2 is a partial section through the keyboard showing one of thestrings of a group,

the key action and Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are sections taken re spectively onthe lines 3-3, 4& and 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In the piano construction shown on the drawing for the purposes ofillustrating my present invention reference character 11 designates anouter rim forming to the shape of the piano, reference character 12 aninner rim, and reference character 13 the Serial No. 655.423.

key bottom. Reference character 1% indicates the usual action which neednot be described in detail since it has no particular reference to thepresent invention. The usual iron plate is indicated at 15 and thesounding board is indicated at 16.

Upon the sounding board two bridges 17 and 18 are provided, the bridge17 being engaged by the treble strings 19 and middle strings 21 and thebridge 18 by the bass strings 22. The strings are fastened at the endremote from the keyboard to hitch pins and 24 on the metal plate and towrist pins 25 at the frontin the usual manner. The bridge 17 increasesin height from the end carrying the short or high pitch strings to theend carrying the long or low pitch strings (Fig. 1.) and the same istrue of the bridge 18.

In the illustration shown on the drawing the strings are arranged inhorizontal planes and to accommodate these increases in height of thebridges the sounding board is arranged farther from the strings at theleft side of the piano than at the right, i. e. (viewing Fig. 1) thesounding board diverges from the planes of these strings from the lowerportion of this figure toward its top. The sounding board is supportedupon the inner rim 12, which decreases in height from the right aroundto the left of the piano as may be seen in Figs. 3 and 4 andcorresponding increases in the height of the blocks 26 which support theiron plate 15. By reason of the decreased thickness of the inner rim 12at the left of the piano it should be made of increased thickness. Thesounding board is supported at the front or keyboard side of the pianoby the usual rail 27 and cross block 28, which in the present instancealso decrease in height to permit the sound board to tilt across thepiano front as it does at the back of the piano.

It will be manifest that the strings are as nearly parallel throughouttheir length with an element of the sound board as their slight angularrelation with each other permit and that each is in substantialparallelism throughout its length with the sounding board.

While the invention has been hereinbefore described as incorporated in agrand piano, it can, of course with equal facility be used in an uprightpiano and it will be manifest that various changes may be made in theform. construction and arrangement of the parts without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the form hereinhetore described being merely a preerredembodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A piano having strings of dill'erent length and its sounding boardlixed in a plane diverging troin the plane 01 the strings in the generaldirection transversely of the strings whereby the strings are arrangedsubstantially parallel throughout their length with the soundin boardand at increasing distances thererroin as the lengths increase.

2. A piano having strings of different length and a sounding board linedin a plane provieing substantial parallelism between each string andsaid sounding boarl, the strings of longer lfillgth being farther fromthe sounding board than the strings of shorter length.

3. A piano having a single string plate iorall of the strings, and asounding board fixed in a plane angularly arranged ivith the plane ofthe strings and diverging therefrom transversely of the piano.

&. A piano having a series of strings, and a sounding board lixed in aplane diverging from said string in a general direction across thestrings, and a bridge interposed between the strings and the soundingboard and increasing in height from the shorter strings to the longerstrings.

5. A piano having a string plate, a series of wrist pins, a curvedseries ot hitch pins, a sounding board. the string plate and thestanding hoard diverging at the wrist pin and hitch pin sides of thepiano, and a bridge teller-ling generally the curve of a series oi hitchp s and increasing in height from the shorter strings to the longerstrings.

('3. A piano havi for all of the strin a bridge increasing in height asthe stri1 b increase in length. and

sounding board lixed in a plane 'angiilarl arranged with the plane ofthe strings and divergin therefrom "transverselyof the piano.

CHARLES MEHLIN.

a single string plate

